Edward Le Bas RA (1904–1966) was a British artist and art collector.

Le Bas was born in London of Anglo-French descent. He was the son of a wealthy steel magnate Edward Le Bas and Anna Le Grand, he was brother to the sculptor Molly Le Bas.

Le Bas was educated at Harrow where he became friends with Cecil Beaton later reading Architecture at Cambridge University. He studied for a short while in Paris inspired by two months spent with the painter Hermann Paul, a disciple of Cezanne at Meudon, Paris, before studying painting at the Royal College of Art under William Rothenstein in London from 1924. Le Bas was just one of a talented group at the RCA that included Henry Moore, John Piper, Barbara Hepworth, Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious.

Head of a Boy is an early work of Le Bas, 1929. I’m guessing that Boy Playing a Harmonica is from the same period ?

The family business provided him with a sizable private income which allowed him to travel and paint in Europe and North Africa. His privileged position gave him the opportunity to amass an extensive collection of art notably the Camden Town Group, Eduard Vuillard and Duncan Grant.

Dieppe Fish Market 1948. Dieppe. Gruissau Pollensa, Majorca.

Le Bas travelled extensively and worked in Majorca, France and Morocco. Le Bas held his first solo show at the Lefevre Gallery in 1936. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1933. He also exhibited at the Redfern and Goupil Galleries, Michael Parkin Gallery, Arthur Tooth and Son and New English Art Club. 

Rye Harbour, four oil paintings 1938.

In 1938 Le Bas staying at his Newhaven cottage, saw what his friend and former RCA colleague Eric Ravilious was painting and liked it. Seeing the unfinished Rye Harbour he insisted on buying it there and then. La Bas also painted the same scene of the lighthouse over the next year.

Still life paintings were popular with Le Bas, the Bedside Table, 1940 exudes brilliant colour.

The Bedside Table, 1940. Bowl of Fruit on a Striped Tablecloth. Still Life with Lemons Pears, and Coffee Pot. Still Life with Fish. Herrings.

Le Bas was fond of portraying café scenes, from the more humble establishments to the refined Garrick. Here we have, Café Scene 1939. The Saloon Bar 1940. Café Scene. Dinner at the Garrick, 1946, Lady Lever Art Gallery.

Angelica Garnett (née Bell 25 December 1918 – 4 May 2012), was born at Charleston Farmhouse  in East Sussex on Christmas Day 1918. She was the biological daughter of the painter Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell; her aunt was Virginia Woolf.

Le Bas was a very good friend of both Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell, as well as being a regular visitor to Charleston. This friendship was long lasting and included holidays to Venice and Provence. Le Bas posed for Grant for the Berwick Church murals in 1944, tied to an easel for the Crucifixion.  Grant painted a portrait of Le Bas in 1955 pictured painting a pot. The vase was potted by Quentin Bell, and both Bell’s and Le Bas’ identifying marks are on the base of the piece.

Duncan Grant: Portrait of Edward Le Bas painting a pot. Charleston.

The Bandstand in Hyde Park, 1948.

Le Bas was elected a member of the London Group in 1942; he exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1933 and was elected an RA in 1949. He was awarded the CBE in 1957 and resided in Chelsea from 1948.

Highlights of his own collection were shown as an exhibition, A Painter’s Collection, at the Royal Academy in 1963, and received highly favourable reviews. Le Bas was a member of the Bequest Committee established by English sculptor Francis Leggatt Chantrey, which was designated to fund the purchase of fine paintings and sculptures produced in Britain. Le Bas’s collection was described in one review as containing no depictions of violence and having works with a wide variety in comparative quality.

The Tea Table 1947-48. Girl in Pink 1952. Girls in a Blue Armchair 1954.

Numerous public galleries in Britain, including the Tate, and in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa hold examples of his paintings.

Le Bas died 23rd July 1966 aged 61.  He is buried in Highgate Cemetery West.

Anchovy Packers, McLean Museum and Art Gallery. Exhibited 1953.

Thanks to:- Wikipedia, just about the only info’ re Edward Le Bas as repeated by a host of on-line gallery bio’s. I’ve included some new information.

Graham Bennison, Facebook

 Edward Le Bas by Cecil Beaton sepia-toned bromide print, 1922, National Portrait Gallery.